Friday, September 25, 2009

Edwardian Nightgowns

Well, the Edwardian Free Spirit's trousseau is almost complete. The girls now have their choice of nightgowns. The nightgown on the left is done with a love knot stitch. Once you get the hang of it, it isn't difficult, but it can be a bit tough to visualize. If you want to try this stitch, I recommend heading to Crochet Pattern Central to their stitch dictionary and take a look at the stitch there. Their site is listed in 'Links I Love.'

The nightgown on the right is done with a chain and picot stitch. Easy stitches, and gives a nice, lacy effect. Both of these nightgowns were stitched with Aunt Lydia's Bamboo Crochet Thread. It was the first time I had used this thread, and it is lovely. It has a matte finish and a wonderful drape.

That's great! Thank you! This will be difficult to explain without you seeing it. But I'll do my best. I'm crocheting the sleeves on the Picot Stitch Nightgown. The part I'm having trouble with, is at the part where it says: (picot, ch5, skip next sc, sc in BLO of the next sc) across to the first ch of underarm on the opposite side of the armhole; sc in this ch, ch5, turn.

I'm assuming that means to continue all the way around, across the armpit to where you first joined your thread with a sc? At this point, am I supposed to sc into the chain before that very first sc?

Actually, the first two rows of the sleeve are not joined, you work back and forth, so when you get to the end of row one and it says to sc in the first chain of the underarm on the opposite side of the armhole, you sc in this chain, ch5, and turn. Do not join. Then work row 2 across and again, do not join to the beginning of row 2 but chain and turn. You will join up the sleeve at the underarm on row 3, then proceed to work in rounds.

If this seems overly complicated, you could just work the sleeve in rounds; I'm pretty sure it would look about the same :-)

About Me

Welcome! My name is Beth and I live in the Midwest of the United States. I was 12 years old when Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the moon. I would have been an astronaut, but my fear of heights has kept me grounded :-) Instead, I became a Mechanical Engineer and worked in industry for many years. Now I design and make soft dolls; a passion I've enjoyed since my Grandmother first taught me to crochet.